Feathers
I am new to the who furry scene and would like to put together a partial suit for this summer's con. I was thinking of either a white owl or a raven but would feathers be a viable option. I haven't seen anything mentioning them. Would they be to hard to work with? Anyone have advice?
http://www.fursuit.org/ would probably be a great place to start asking questions like this. From what I've heard it's a really good resource for fursuit making info.
Artificial feathers would be best. Wearing real feathers to a Furry Convention would be like wearing a real pelt, it would leave others wishing to skin you alive.
I haven't actually thought of real feathers. What I was planning on using were feathers from a craft store Are those all artifical? I know the fluffy kind is but what about the long ones just named Indian feathers? EaglesFlight Thank you for the link. Im trying to navigate it. I was thinking of forgoing a head piece. Instead I would paint my face and apply fluff feathers to it. The kind of face paint Im experienced with is great for sticking things to it. Also make a beak. How does this sound to either of you? I was thinking that it would be cheaper and cooler. The only snag is the rest of it. Maybe hot gluing the feathers? Again going cheaper, I was planning on a white underarmor shirt to them to. I guess at this point it ceases to be a suit. Also any tips about wings?
Kage means using owl feathers would be illegal, Crow feathers I don't think are illegal to procure or use since it isn't an endangered animal. However finding either of them in quantity sufficient for human coverage is a laughable idea.
Chicken feathers aren't illegal to use or own, but can pose problems for those in the area that are sensitive or allergic to birds. (Note: Most craft store feathers are either chicken or turkey, both of which are common allergens).
Faux fur can be styled to look spikey like feathers, and there's even 'feather fur'(Google it, you'll get a mess).
I HIGHLY recommend NOT using REAL feathers on a fursuit, unless it's small accents. They'd get all mussed up and start to go to shit pretty quickly-- not to mention the amount of time it'd take to apply EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
Ask the Fursuit LJ community. They'll give you alternatives.
I planned on using craft store fake feathers. Or do you mean not to use feathers period?
You could possibly use fabric? You could stuff the wings and sow it to make 'em look like long feathers... :\
Gyrhawk has had a lot of success using a combination of craft feathers and wooden(?) pinions. Up close you'd never mistake the pinions for real feathers, but the articulation he's built into the wings is very realistic.
I use real feathers on my 'suit. They're perfectly legal turkey feathers, that are painted to match my character design. (And no Eaglesflight, no one has threatened to skin me alive.) Making the crest took several hours of gluing each. individual. feather. into a mesh before attaching it to the head of my 'suit. My wings are taxidermied turkey wings, from turkeys hunted for food. Most people would *not* wish to use such materials, since the wings are disproportionally small to the rest of my body (I call them "chibi" wings). The feathers are *fragile*, and I know I've had problems in the past with them getting mussed up and the tips broken off in a crowded situation.
There was a gentleman at this past Anthrocon in a Hawk 'suit with proportionate fabric wings that looked absolutely stunning. I don't know who he was, but maybe you can figure out, from pics, how his wings were constructed. Good luck!
@Tyrrlin
I love your's, especially the wings. Did you start out with a mess costume store angle wing or from scratch? Feathers are painstaking to do anything with but the effect is just too pretty. How did you attach the the wings? Did you use a strap or are they sown directly in?
@desteredra
What are pinions? Do you know if they are long slats like on a wooden fan, that's kinda how those wings look.
I will probably have to forgo fabric wings because I lack the skills to sew, I can do a basic quick stitch but that's it. Another question about the headpiece, is it neccessary? Well I mean, I haven't seen any pictures of someone without one.
@Tyrrlin
I love your's, especially the wings. Did you start out with a mess costume store angle wing or from scratch?
I believe Tyrrlin said she got hers as a pair of real taxidermied wings from a turkey that was killed for food.
What are pinions? Do you know if they are long slats like on a wooden fan, that's kinda how those wings look.
Pinions are the big stiff feathers on the tips of a bird's wings. They act a little like fingers in the air, allowing the bird to direct the air around it as it flies.
I don't know what Gyrhawk (the 'suiter) made his pinions out of, but they did appear to act more or less like slats on a folding fan, but articulated so he could stretch and tuck them at will like a bird. Interestingly, he'd also added a small controller to the head with a recording, so he could speak under the head or open the beak and make it whistle like a hawk. It was really impressive, and i'm not usually impressed by fursuits.
You're welcome to wear as much, or as little, costume as you care to. The traditional definition of a fursuit partial is "head, handpaws, footpaws", but people come in everything from a full head-to-toe fursuit to plain'ol t-shirt and jeans. You're welcome at the con however you are.
That said, i don't know whether the costume you describe would still make you count as a fursuiter while wearing the costume. Most of the privileges given to fursuiters are there not because they're better or more special or more deserving, but because they need some special care to keep from getting sick; without the headless lounge and priority at the elevators, they can collapse from heat exhaustion or dehydration. Heck, some collapse even with those things, if they don't take care of themselves. I know folks who cosplay as humans (jack sparrow, beetlejuice...) don't get priority at the elevators because they don't need it, but someone smarter than me would have to say if there was a need with your costume.
How did you attach the the wings? Did you use a strap or are they sown directly in?
The wings were wired, the wire threaded through a mesh and attached to straps, then the whole mess was sewn into the "jacket" portion of my 'suit. When making my 'suit, I made it into several separate pieces to allow me to put it on by myself, and to allow for a partial 'suit if I desired.
Thank you for clearing up that confusion because I frankly was having a dumb moment there. Google was telling me but I for some unfathomable reason, I thought you were talking about a material.
Yeah my costume probably isn't a fursuit but I needed a better word than costume. Im having a hard time classifying it since it's in development stages. Basically my torso is going to covered in feathers with wings and tail feathers but instead of a head, I'm going to use spirit gum to glue feathers directly on my face. This eliminates any need for privilages with it being realitivly cool-about as hot as a band uniform-, allows full visibilty, realative use in my hands, and most importantly the ability to speak and be heard. It's cumbersome but not enough so to require special care.
In other words I don't know what to call it.
Instead of gluing the feathers to your face, you may consider getting a mask and either gluing feathers to it or painting the mask with a feather design. That way, it can be removed and put back on very quickly. If it fits tightly, you will be able to talk, eat, and drink while wearing it. Use a hood with feathers or simulation of them to cover the rest of your head and paint the areas around your eyes to match the color of the mask.
Jovina
Hmm, I think you should not use real feathers: Most are illegal, but there are some legal ones such as turkey feathers, but as a bird owner, they only stay in good shape because a bird is preening them. And trust me, they will make your fursuit look unbelievably crappy. So don't use real feathers. But just use short or long pile fur, but make sure it fits what kind of bird you are making. For a white/snowy owl, you would need long pile, but for a raven you would need short.
And trust me, they will make your fursuit look unbelievably crappy
Gee, thanks. :-P
Sorry, I didn't know you used real feathers on yours. I don't read the entire thread, it waists my time if there is long replies...
Just as a gentle nudging, if you ask a complicated question like the one you did above, people tend to give more detailed/complicated answers. Saying "TL;DR" to people who are answering a question that you asked to start with makes you come off as somewhat of a jerk.
Just a bit of friendly advice. 
True, but note that Evil Eggy was the OP, not Random Parrot...
That'll teach me to look at the avatars without checking names. Whoops.
You're probably still used to last year's "no avatar uploaded" default (what it was, I forget), whereas this year's flower petals probably look too much like a legit icon 
That sounds pretty likely. Won't make the mistake again! At least not with that avatar photo.
That I am an apparently I've been missing my own thread.
It looks like now that it would be easier to put together an entire suit instead of figuring out a partial Would it be worth it?
that gyrhawk costume is just breathtaking, and the fur used on the head and upper wing is actually called feathered fur, I made an owl suit out of it once and it makes a very convincing feather effect.I would forgoe the real feathers and do the fur, it is so much easier to work with and looks really nice.Feathers are only maybe an accent like the way Tyrrlin did with her crest and real wings.When you are dealing with an entire taxidermy wing it is much easier than gluing individual feathers to a base.I am going to have to start saving my turkey wings and fixing them up!.May I ask Tyrrlin how they attach to your shoulders? I am a taxidermist by the way.
Absolutely! :-)
They're wired. The wings were left "open" with the bones exposed on the underside. I drilled holes (and that was a project, I tell you) through the joints and threaded a wire through the holes and secured said wire with glue in the joints and used *very* heavy carpet/sofa thread to secure the wire along the length of the bones. I'm sorry, I can't remember the type of glue I used, though. The wire had already been threaded through a mesh attached to straps, and sewn into the "jacket" portion of my 'suit. So, the wings were attached last. Bending the wire to exactly match the wing joints took a bit of effort... and luck. :-) I then sewed a fabric covering to the "arm" portion of the wing, allowing the primaries and secondaries to remain free.
It was a lot of work, but the wings have held up pretty for nearly six years now.
I vote for making feathers out of fabric or something, like that hawk pictured above (that suit is AMAZING!), mainly because the size will be out of proportion if you use real feathers. People are way bigger than turkeys, so turkey feathers will look too small. See how the feathers on the hawk suit look to be about two feet long.
That said, though, I do think Tyrrlin's suit looks great! But even so, Tyrrlin calls the wings "chibi" and that's true, because on a human they are proportionally tinier than they are on a turkey. If you WANT the chibi look, though, they are great! But if you want realistic bird proportions, you're going to have to make feathers out of something else.
Just as a side note, the feathers at craft stores are not fake. They are real feathers taken from animals killed for food, and dyed bright colors.
Good luck with making your suit! Have fun!
That y'all soo much for the replies, you all have helped greatly. This is extremely embarassing but Im going to have to put the bird off for a year or two. Im strapped for cash and wont have enough to make something of quality.
I've been fascinated with the wing construction from this artist
Thank you for the links, Tyrrlin and Inkycrow. Both of those are amazing work, I'm enjoying looking at them.
Years ago, there was a TV show called Buck Rogers in the 23rd Century. One character was Hawk, supposedly an anthro hawk creature. The actor wore character clothing and had feathers on top of his head over his hair--real feathers, small ones perhaps the size of a human finger. The feathers were constantly coming off and had to be replaced on a daily basis, sometimes even between scenes. Also years ago, I read a book on costuming for stage and opera and it said something like "real feathers were for bird brains" because they were too small for a human sized bird and too hard to fix on anything. I am not sure how indians fixed feathers to their head dress, but the shaft of a feather is hard, smooth and brittle, the three worst things you could imagine. Being hard and smooth, it would be difficult to get glue to adhere to the shaft and being brittle makes it difficult to drill a hole. Some of the best looking wings around are on Legend the Griffin Bard. Legend's wings are painted or airbrushed on fabric or spandex and attached to an articulated mechanical armature. http://www.avians.net/~legend/furpics.html As others have said, fabric feathers cut to a suitable shape, or legal fowl feathers dyed a certain color and "somehow" fixed to a backing, or "your guess is as good as mine" would be the best. A while back, a local leather shop, now out of business, had Boy Scout kits for making Indian head dresses. They used dyed fowl feathers as eagle feathers. Only Native Americans, with US federal government oversight, can use genuine eagle feathers for head dresses, costumes or cermonies. All other uses or users are strictly illegal.
Make your own feathers! Floral wire(For the shaft) and thin fabric(2 pieces per feather) can make pretty convincing feathers if you spend time on each one. Just glue two pieces of fabric together with the floral wire in the centre, and use scissors to cut a few individual feathery spikey things(Whatever they're called). Airbrush and you're done.
Real feathers, of course, would be illegal. Artificial feathers (or painted legal feathers, such as turkey feathers) would look very interesting but would be an incredible amount of work to adhere to the costume.